Denard Robinson to try out at Bears’ minicamp

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 12, 2017, 5:49 AM EDT

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This weekend’s Bears minicamp is mostly for rookies, but one fairly well-known veteran will be there: Denard Robinson.

Robinson, the Michigan quarterback who was Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in 2010, is a free agent after playing out his four-year rookie contract with the Jaguars. The Bears are the first team to publicly acknowledge any interest in Robinson.

As an “offensive weapon” in Jacksonville, Robinson occasionally showed flashes of the talent he showed at Michigan, but didn’t have a lot of production. Last year he managed just 41 carries for 144 yards and three catches for 22 yards.

The Bears’ running back depth chart is fairly deep, with Jordan Howard as the starter and Jeremy Langford, Ka’Deem Carey and fourth-round pick Tarik Cohen backing him up. So Robinson will have to look impressive this weekend if he’s going to get signed to the 90-man offseason roster.

I like when they take no-risk chances like this. If he doesn’t impress, he moves on. If they find something they like, they can bring him in for next to nothing.

I think they want a speed element at running back to complement what Howard can do. Langford has not provided that, and KaDeem Carey, while a smaller back, is even slower than Howard, and doesn’t have any complementary skills to the primary back.

Cohen is also a shot in the dark, and a poor choice for a 4th round pick. Bears should have taken Julie’n Davenport there.

The Bears seem intent on shaking things up at the RB positions behind Howard. Translation, Kadeem Carey is history (pick of the former regime). Jeremy Langford is likely on thin ice too even though he’s a Ryan Pace guy.